BIG FISH on LIGHT TACKLE The daily fishing reports from Capt. Marty Moore of Top Water Charters. Plus, news and notes from Capt. Marty
Friday, September 6, 2013
Sept 6 Citation King Mackerel and Citation Spanish Mackerel
This morning I was going to get the Boat out of the water and for some damn reason I went and caught a net full of Menhaden.... Then I went out of Beaufort Inlet. I had decided that I was going to spend 60 minutes dragging 3 live baits around the shipping channel..... Then the rain came. I wondered "what the hell am I doing out here"...... Then there was a pull of drag off one of my rods! I looked behind the boat and I saw a dorsal fin. Then a splash. Then one of my reels screamed as whatever I'd seen had eaten a bait. I knew what it was from the beginning.... If you've ever seen the sickle-shaped dorsal of a Hammerhead Shark, you'll not forget it.... Sure enough, 10 minutes later I had a tough little 40 lb Scalloped Hammerhead Shark beside the boat for a picture. A nice Hammerhead Shark, hell that was worth the trouble of going! Right? Hold On! A minute later, I was past a Set of Bouys that I planned to troll up to, so I started reeling in my live baits. I had decided to make the same drift over again. As I cranked in the last of my 3 Menhaden, something slammed it just a few feet from the boat. Lightning fast but this one burned out quick. A minute later I tailed a fat 7 lb Citation winning Spanish Mackerel. Oh damn, I just caught supper. This was working out okay. Then I ran back inshore and planned to duplicate my previous drift. Right off the bat I caught another big Spanish Mackerel. As I was setting my baits back out, something amazing happened..... Two lines were in the water and all I needed to set out was my "short bait". As I turned and pitched the last Menhaden in the water, a flash of movement caught my eye under the bubble trail coming out from my propeller... This started out as a flash of silver, but seemed to turn brown as it moved to the right out from under and behind my boat.... I thought Cobia or Shark and I pulled up my Menhaden and pitched it in front of the mystery shape.... The line quickly came tight and I felt it immediately because I was still holding the rod.... Then the line went slack... Not seeing real good because of the cloudy conditions, I reeled in and got tight again. Set the hook and the rod and reel jumped into action. The shape/color took off in a blur and suddenly stopped 40 feet from the boat. What the hell...... I pulled back and the line went slack again. As I reeled frantically the line sliced with speed you cannot appreciate without experiencing.... The line cut a path across the bow of my boat, came tight on the other side and line smoked off my reel for 20 seconds.... Straight towards a Green Bouy.... Oh great, an obstacle..... Again the line stopped, just for a second.... Then the line again "poured" off my reel. The Fish was headed west and now there were no obstacles.... Just me and my fish.... I was really thinking Blacktip Shark at this point. Too fast for a Cobia, but no jumps like a Blacktip.... I swear I thought I saw brown.... A very short minute later, I looked over the side and saw....... A long stretch of green and silver.... Pretty enough..... A big, long King Mackerel.... Mission Accomplished. Too bad it aint next weekend and the Atlantic Beach King Mackerel Tournament.... This one is NOT a TOURNAMENT WINNING FISH, but it would've been a BIG MONEY WINNER.... Hell with the Northeast Wind that's blowing right now, this one probably would've won it today.... Total Catch for the Day: 1 King Mackerel at 37lbs, 2 Spanish Mackerel at 4lbs and 7lbs, and a 40lb Scalloped Hammerhead Shark
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4 comments:
Thats the boat captain I know! Knock them dead capt!
Tugwell
hey marty.. saw you caught those in the shipping channel .. I have fished there with no luck.. was wondering a few things.. how many bouys do you go out..do you cross back and forth over the channel or stay on one particular side any info you could help with would be great.. love your site .. I check it out daily..
thanks,
davin
Davin,
As far as "how far out..... Most of the Kings were caught in the old days out around the old Sea Bouy. Why? IDK, simply because thats where most of the boats were fishing?
As you run up and down that Bouy Chain, you will mark big and small schools of bait all through the entire area. So, the large predators can occur anywhere... My thought process on the day I caught the 37lb King was this, on a falling tide, large, hungry fish should push inshore, into the falling tide as they search for food being swept offshore. I caught that King at the second double set out in the Ocean. That day there were large schools of baitfish suspended at mid-depth in the middle of the Channel. That King Mack bit mid channel and ran directly towards the green side of the Channel. Directly at a Green Bouy to be precise.... I will typically run figure eights around a pair of bouys that I want to fish or if the wind is blowing hard, I will run straight out or straight in the Shipping Channel... If I mark something outstanding, I will usually make 2-3 circles before moving on... Strikes inshore are precious, fish are generally large, and you need to make every strike count!
In the Bouy Chain and everywhere inshore for that matter, patience is a virtue... On pretty days, I dont have much patience. It is a GREAT place to fish though... Lots of good fish come out of that area.. It is an easy place to "run by" though.... I always liked the inconvience of Amberjacks, Barracudas, and other things we encounter offshore. Lots of boredom inshore.... It is very rewarding to catch a larger King though... And until the cool crisp nights of October arrive, the larger Kings typically come from inshore. There are just fewer of them. Fishing all day for that ONE BITE can be boring....
Capt Marty
marty.. thanks for your input.. if I can find some menhaden this weekend im gonna give it another try..
thanks again,
davin
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